Hope You Like Jammin' Too
Oct. 4th, 2021 08:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Apricot Jam Shortbread Squares.
1 cup dried apricots
2 Tbsp amaretto, orange blossom water, apricot brandy, or tea
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cuplight brown sugar (I only ever use dark brown. Otherwise, what's the point?)
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 tsp vanilla (Ha! I used... more.)
2 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups apricot jam (I used house-made, but only 1 cup because I opened a half-pint jar and didn't want to open a second)
1 cup crystalized ginger
1 cup sliced almonds
Heat oven to 350. Line an 8" square baking pan with parchment, leaving a 3" overhang on all sides. In a bowl, pour the amaretto over the dried apricots and set aside somewhere warm to plump up.
Make the shortbread: use an electric mixer to cream the butter and both sugars until pale and fluffy. Add almond and vanilla extracts and beat to integrate. Remove beaters and sift in flour, ginger, and salt. Fold in until no streaks of flour remain. Gather the shortbread into a ball. Tear off roughly a third, wrap that piece in parchment or plastic wrap and refrigerate. Press the remaining dough into the bottom of the parchment-lined pan. Gently pat dough to make a roughly even layer and bake for 15 minutes.
While shortbread layer is baking, dice the ginger into 1/4" pieces and place in a bowl. Add jam and stir to combine. Drain apricots, preserving the liquid, and dice into 1/4" pieces. Stir the diced apricots and liquid into the jam.
Remove shortbread from the oven, leaving the oven on. Spread the jam mixture over the shortbread. Scatter the surface with almond slices. Remove remaining dough from fridge and push off little bits of this dough, scattering them across the jam layer. Bake until the shortbread bits on top are golden, 25 minutes.
Set pan on a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature. Cut into 9 squares and serve, or keep overnight in an airtight container.
What worked: These were very nice. Not mouthgasmingly nice, but well worth making. Good hit from the ginger without being overwhelming, and of course it went very well with the apricot and almond. The leftovers should go well with afternoon tea.
What didn't: With the shortbread bits mostly covering the top, it looked like a cross between a crumble and a cobbler. Maybe that's what's intended, but it wasn't what I envisioned. It's also possible I used too much for the topping; I didn't measure. I probably will next time.
Will I make it again? It will go into the rotation. Although I will probably use commercial apricot jam unless we have gargantuan quantities (which sometimes we do). This would also work well with plum jam (of which we do currently have large quantities, according to my jam spreadsheet).
This would be good for a potluck, although I would cut them into 16 for that.
1 cup dried apricots
2 Tbsp amaretto, orange blossom water, apricot brandy, or tea
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 tsp vanilla (Ha! I used... more.)
2 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups apricot jam (I used house-made, but only 1 cup because I opened a half-pint jar and didn't want to open a second)
1 cup crystalized ginger
1 cup sliced almonds
Heat oven to 350. Line an 8" square baking pan with parchment, leaving a 3" overhang on all sides. In a bowl, pour the amaretto over the dried apricots and set aside somewhere warm to plump up.
Make the shortbread: use an electric mixer to cream the butter and both sugars until pale and fluffy. Add almond and vanilla extracts and beat to integrate. Remove beaters and sift in flour, ginger, and salt. Fold in until no streaks of flour remain. Gather the shortbread into a ball. Tear off roughly a third, wrap that piece in parchment or plastic wrap and refrigerate. Press the remaining dough into the bottom of the parchment-lined pan. Gently pat dough to make a roughly even layer and bake for 15 minutes.
While shortbread layer is baking, dice the ginger into 1/4" pieces and place in a bowl. Add jam and stir to combine. Drain apricots, preserving the liquid, and dice into 1/4" pieces. Stir the diced apricots and liquid into the jam.
Remove shortbread from the oven, leaving the oven on. Spread the jam mixture over the shortbread. Scatter the surface with almond slices. Remove remaining dough from fridge and push off little bits of this dough, scattering them across the jam layer. Bake until the shortbread bits on top are golden, 25 minutes.
Set pan on a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature. Cut into 9 squares and serve, or keep overnight in an airtight container.
What worked: These were very nice. Not mouthgasmingly nice, but well worth making. Good hit from the ginger without being overwhelming, and of course it went very well with the apricot and almond. The leftovers should go well with afternoon tea.
What didn't: With the shortbread bits mostly covering the top, it looked like a cross between a crumble and a cobbler. Maybe that's what's intended, but it wasn't what I envisioned. It's also possible I used too much for the topping; I didn't measure. I probably will next time.
Will I make it again? It will go into the rotation. Although I will probably use commercial apricot jam unless we have gargantuan quantities (which sometimes we do). This would also work well with plum jam (of which we do currently have large quantities, according to my jam spreadsheet).
This would be good for a potluck, although I would cut them into 16 for that.
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Date: 2021-10-07 03:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-10-07 02:05 pm (UTC)